A collective step towards a better future for Slums

We realised that the people in these communities are in a tricky situation. They’re working, and earning a basic income, but they have no means to save and invest in better products that would dramatically improve their lives. This means they’re trapped in a vicious cycle of spending, when really they want to save money and lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

The impact that their living conditions have on them in terms of health, mobility and economic security are staggering. They rely on toxic, harmful and expensive kerosene that they buy every week for 50-100 Rupees just to light up their homes. This kerosene blackens their homes, and releases black carbon into the environment. They cook on open wood-fires, inside a plastic tarpaulin tent, which means women and children inhale the equivalent of 2 packs of cigarette smoke in their home every single day. They don’t have access to clean water, and illnesses are common. If they’re lucky, their children are going to a local government school, but they lack the funds to buy them clothing or education resources. With the routine spending on all these basic needs, they can’t save enough money to do anything about their situation.

This is where we step in. We realised that there are products out there that these families want and need, but they don’t know about them and can’t afford to buy them upfront. And so, we created a network of local sales agents, our ‘Pollinators’, and gave them training on how to use and sell basic products like solar lanterns, clean cookstoves, mobile phones, water filters and more. These Pollinators go ‘tent to tent’ in the slum communities every evening and on weekends, offering products to families on an affordable payment plan. This way, families can switch from, for example, harmful kerosene to clean solar power overnight, and pay off the product in 1-2 months.